Untitled (Coming soon!)
by ApparatingMaster
Summary: My story of what happened in between the Battle of Hogwarts and the Epilogue of Book 7. Rated M for safety,I have no idea where my ideas will take me at this point, I don't intend to do anything extremely steamy at this point. START WITH PROLOGUE! 08/17/20: Edits completed! I feel much better about the flow now. New chapter soon!
1. Chapter 1

Some time later, Harry felt warmth on his neck and looked up just in time to see the sun was in full view over the horizon. It was a good sunrise and Harry realized that his mouth was open in awe. He never quite realized how easy it was to enjoy a sunrise when there wasn't an evil threat on your mind all the time. It was a wonderful splash of color across the sky. Reds, oranges, yellows, purples; they were all there. Harry suddenly felt a lot better and leaned back, drinking in the entire sky. A sudden familiar musical song brought him down out of his reverie with a start.

"That sounds like-... But... It can't be..."

He had not heard that song since... He looked around and sitting next to him was a beautiful red and gold plumaged bird.

"Fawkes!" Harry breathed softly. The phoenix acknowledged with a soft coo. Harry last saw Fawkes high in the sky at Dumbledore's funeral at the end of his sixth year, and after piping a truly mournful song Fawkes had disappeared. Harry had no idea why he would suddenly turn up now. Fawkes rested his head on Harry's shoulder, and Harry ran his hand down Fawkes' neck a few times before speaking again.

"What are you doing here?"

Fawkes trumpeted his song again before holding out his clawed foot to Harry. He suddenly realized that Fawkes was clutching a large egg. It glittered with green, blue and purple with a hint of orange and gold. It seemed to be made out of polished stone.  
He held out his hand and as he did so, Fawkes dropped the egg into it. He had just a moment to marvel at how light it was before the egg suddenly burst into flames in his hand. Harry gave a yell and instinctively tried to drop the egg to the ground but his hand wouldn't obey. He started to panic until he realized that the flames weren't really burning him. They were hot, sure, but they weren't unbearable.

Then, the flames died almost as fast as they had started. The egg was no longer there. A pile of ashes had replaced it. Something poked up out of the ashes and Harry recognized it as the head of a baby bird. He knew Phoenixes were reborn from their own ashes… Harry looked up again just in time to see a small trail of crimson flame and smoke rising into the sky. Fawkes was gone. Intrigued, Harry slowly stood up so as not to startle the small creature in his hand. He had no idea what having a phoenix meant and he only had a small idea of what phoenixes could do. Just as puzzling was the existence of the egg in the first place. Was the bird he was holding Fawkes' offspring? Had Dumbledore once done the exact same thing with Fawkes? Carefully, he carried the small bird into the kitchen and put it on the table, where it started looking all over with huge eyes, taking in this new world.  
Harry made toast for breakfast while the phoenix watched him intently.  
Afterwards, Harry went to the library of the house, where he felt his heart sink slightly. The library had shrunk by about half since they had rid it of all the books that Sirius's mother had kept in there, and ever since, Harry had been making his way through the remainder to pass the time. He had not come across anything to do with phoenixes before now, but it was worth a look anyway. The baby phoenix had not left Harry's shoulder, preferring to be as close to him as possible. It weighed so little though that it made no difference to Harry.

He had just finished sneezing after making piles of dusty books to look through for information when he was startled by a "whump" followed by a loud tapping and a high screech coming from the library's lone window. The phoenix, startled, disappeared in a small puff of flame and smoke. Harry felt it materialize again in his shirt pocket. Harry made his way over to the window and saw a very tiny, somewhat cross-eyed owl. It was Ron's owl, Pigwidgeon, who had clearly just crashed into the window full force. Harry rolled his eyes.  
"Don't worry, it's just Pig." He said soothingly to the Phoenix as he made his way to the window. Knowing what was coming, he stood to the side of the window and opened it. Immediately, Pig rocketed through the window and began zooming round and round the room as fast as he could, screeching loudly his victorious arrival. His Quidditch reflexes serving him well, Harry caught Pig within a few seconds. He still had it. He removed five letters from the owls leg and then Pig continued to zoom around the ceiling.  
The first letter he could see carried the familiar Hogwarts crest seal, as well as Professor McGonagall's emerald green handwriting.

Dear Mr. Potter

It is with great pleasure that I would like to extend an invitation for you to return to complete your 7th and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Enclosed is a list of books and supplies you will need for the coming term. It is also my pleasure to inform you of your reinstatement to the Gryffindor Quidditch team as Captain. Further details will be provided on your return. Please note that the Hogwarts Express will depart Kings Cross station from Platform 9¾ on the 1st of September. I await your return owl by no later than July 1st.

Happy Holidays!

Professor Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Harry leaned back in his chair and looked up, watching Pig fly around like a brown feathery Snitch, pondering. Hogwarts. Of course, he had never even started his 7th year, really. He hadn't decided if he was up to attending it or not. Was it worth it being pointed at while people whispered behind their hands about him all over again? It was most certainly worth returning for Quidditch. He had been Captain in his 6th year but had been banned unfairly and never got to complete the season or compete for the highly coveted Quidditch Cup. He had almost forgotten completely how it felt to even fly, having lost his previous broom, a Firebolt, a year ago in his escape from Voldemort. The houses had not even played Quidditch that year, due to the unusual circumstances the school found itself in. Harry decided to think about that more later, and ripped open the next letter, which had Hagrid's unmistakable scrawl.

Harry,

Just wanted to know how yer doin' after the battle. The school almost looks same's it did before the battle, thanks to Grawpy and everyone helping. Headmistress says he can stay in the forest. Both Fang and Buckbeak miss ya, are ye coming back to school this year?  
All the best,

Hagrid

Harry moved on to the next letter, which was from Ron.

Dear Harry,

How have you been doing, mate? To be completely honest with you, things are pretty messy here. Mum's been in a right state. Actually, we all are, really. Don't you dare blame yourself for any of this, Harry. Fred would force-feed you 50 Skiving Snackboxes if you were, you know. We all fought for a better life. You should come and visit us and stay for the rest of the summer, like always. Hermione is already here, and it would do Mum good to smile again. Hermione is excited (to put it mildly) to return to Hogwarts. She won't shut up. Did you get a letter too? Come and visit!

Ron

Harry gave a small sad smile as he read Ron's letter. Ron was surely having a worse time of things than Harry and he was trying to make HIM feel better. The next letter had Hermione's neat cursive.

Dear Harry,

I do hope you're doing alright. Things have been rather somber here at the Burrow lately, since Bill, Fleur, and Charlie have all left. You should really visit us. I know Ginny has been missing you. Did you get your letter from Hogwarts? Don't even think about ignoring it! Our careers are too important to give up on now! You won't go far without graduating!

Lots of love,

Hermione

Feeling guilty, Harry looked out the window aimlessly as his thoughts returned to Ginny yet again. Since Fred's funeral he had not tried to contact her, as he didn't want to add more to her plate right now, and figured she needed some time and space away from everything, like he did. He turned to the last letter, which was from Ginny herself, and tore it open apprehensively.

My Dear Harry,

I know we didn't get as much time as we needed before it all happened. I wanted to be angry at you. You left to find Voldemort all by yourself and I didn't know what to do. When I saw Hagrid carrying you back from the forest I thought my world was ending. I can't do that again, Harry. There is so much more I want to say to you. Please come and see us. I miss you. Stop blaming yourself in that big dusty house!

Most sincerely yours,

Ginny

Harry let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding on to in a huge sigh as he finished Ginny's letter. How did she know exactly what he was doing? Reluctantly, he cleared a space off the library desk and wrote a response to the Burrow at large saying he would leave in two days' time.

"Oi, get down here so I can send you back with this!" Harry called to Pig, who was still zooming around the room uncontrollably. Pig finally landed, but continued to move around so much Harry still had trouble. Then once Harry opened the window again he shot outside like a javelin and disappeared. With the disturbance gone the phoenix reappeared on Harry's shoulder, looking relieved.

"Yeah, he takes some getting used to, sorry." Harry told it.  
The rest of the day was spent with the window open to let out the dust Harry disturbed as he went through books scouring for information on phoenixes.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry was packing his things for his trip to the Burrow and eventual return to Hogwarts. The phoenix was resting on his pillow, watching him go around the room grabbing things with apparent great interest. He had to say that even for a wizard, he was keeping some odd things with him. He took the Sneakoscope he had received as a birthday present from Hermione a year ago from its place on his bedroom window. A contraption that warned of untrustworthy intentions, it was difficult to pinpoint who was setting it off at any given time. But Harry had found one of them useful in enough situations in past incidents that he now kept one with him whenever he traveled, a habit he had picked up while on the run last year.  
He took his pouch made of mokeskin that Hagrid had given him. It contained his father's old invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, and the old snitch he had caught in his first game of Quidditch.

He also threw several books and a picture album full of pictures of his parents into his trunk before he came across a long thin box tucked away in the corner of his bookcase. Harry had used the immense power of the fabled Elder Wand for one single thing since it had come into his possession, and that was to repair his trusty old holly wand. The Elder wand now resided in this box, along with the wand that had once belonged to Draco Malfoy. No wizard needed three wands. Harry planned on returning the Elder Wand to Dumbledore's tomb, but he was at a complete loss as to what to do with Malfoy's wand. He had no idea what had happened to Malfoy and his parents, as they had fled when Voldemort fell. The wands didn't take up much room so he packed the box as well.

Harry sat down hard on top of his trunk to try and force it closed after adding his school supplies and clothes. He let out a muttered oath he would never have said in front of Mrs. Weasley when it did not. But then he suddenly laughed. As both he and Hermione had found out several times in the past, it was seemingly impossible to completely eradicate being a little Muggle-like at heart, and not doing things Ron would have done on instinct was quite common. He pulled out his wand, and still chuckling to himself, Harry used magic to enlarge the trunk so that everything fit. He then used a charm to make it weigh a fraction of what it had before. Proud of himself, Harry took a quick look around his room to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.

Hedwig's cage stood on his dresser, looking empty and lonely. He had not been able to bring himself to throw it away, instead using it as a temporary lodging for any of his friends owls when they sent him mail. The phoenix, it seemed, preferred to sleep near Harry, and hadn't shown any interest in it. Then again, remembered Harry, since the phoenix could teleport, there was no point to a cage. He then headed downstairs where he found the bird on the kitchen table, demolishing a moth it had caught somewhere. It had grown considerably in only a couple days. It was now roughly the same size Hedwig had been, and some of its colorful plumage was starting to come in. It was the same colors its egg had been; Blue, green, and purple. He had no idea what gender it was or if it even had a gender in the first place, so he hadn't named it yet. It was a wonderful companion, however, and Harry's mood had already changed for the better with his new found friend around. The phoenix would sometimes disappear randomly off his shoulder in a flash of flame and smoke. But he had only to think of it, and it would pop back into existence again. It was extremely affectionate. Harry looked around once more, waved his wand at the front door, where he heard the locks clicking into place with satisfaction.

"Well, I guess that's everything," he said aloud, and the phoenix, in a puff of green smoke, appeared on his shoulder and nipped his ear. Then, Harry took a deep breath, and Apparated to the Burrow. He expected to feel the usual suffocating, squeezing feeling with a huge tug behind his navel, but surprisingly, all Harry felt was light floating. It was also seemed to be a much easier thing to do. When he arrived at the picket fence of the Burrow, instead of feeling sick and short of breath, he felt pleasantly warm, surrounded by green, blue, and purple flames which disappeared after a moment. Remembering when Dumbledore once used Fawkes to escape from his own office at Hogwarts, he found himself sighing with relief. He had never really enjoyed apparition. Perhaps secretly Dumbledore had too?

"Wow," he said softly looking at the phoenix. It blinked at him solemnly and then closed its eyes humbly and snuggled back against his cheek, as if this was all in a day's work and nothing to be so amazed over.  
Still marveling, he headed up the front drive, and then, hesitantly, realizing he had never done this before, knocked on the door. No sooner had he knocked than the door had been flung open and he found himself getting a huge hug from Molly Weasley.

"Harry! Oh, good to see you, Harry, dear!"  
The phoenix, disturbed from its perch, disappeared. Harry hugged her back just as tightly.

"Are you alright?" he asked with concern. Mrs. Weasley looked as if she had not been sleeping well lately. Her hair was rather frazzled.

"Oh, rubbish, don't mind me, dear," said Mrs. Weasley as she blew her nose. "I'm doing just fine. Merlin, Harry, you look like you haven't eaten in a month! Sit down and I'll whip up something for you."

Harry knew better than to argue. He sat down in the dining room, where the phoenix poofed back onto his shoulder. He glanced around the room. Nothing much had changed here. The old wireless was still there, currently playing something low-key. His gaze fell on the great Weasley grandfather clock. Three of the hands, being that of Molly, Ron, and Ginny were pointing to the "At Home" position. The one that had Arthur Weasley's picture on it, which was smiling and waving, was pointing at work. The same was true for George, Charlie, Bill and Percy. Harry looked away before he saw the last hand. It was Fred's and was no doubt permanently pointed to "Mortal Peril".

Mrs. Weasley came bustling in and put a large bacon sandwich down in front of Harry. She finally saw the baby phoenix and gasped.  
"Harry! Is that a phoenix?" she asked, staring.

"Oh! Yeah." Harry replied, taking a bite of the sandwich, which was very tasty as always. "I'll tell you the whole story when everyone is here." Harry said thickly. "Thanks Mrs. Weasley, this is delicious!" He wasn't much of a cook himself and hadn't really had the motivation recently anyway.

"Oh I'm glad you like it, it has my special sauce in it. But please don't talk with your mouth full."  
Harry swallowed. "Sorry. Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Well, I asked Ron to de-gnome the back garden, Hermione is most likely upstairs, I think I saw Ginny heading out to the meadow, George is at the store, and Arthur is at the Ministry."

"Is the store going to stay open then?"

"We aren't sure yet," Mrs. Weasley said with a small sad smile. "George is hoping that he might be able to keep the store running, but it's tougher with just one person." Harry nodded in understanding. Things were pretty quiet while Harry, helped by the phoenix, finished eating. He thanked Mrs. Weasley and went out the back door to the rear garden, where he found Ron, lounging lazily on a garden bench, pointing his wand menacingly at two gnomes who were peeking around a rock at the corner, clearly intent on getting back in. Just as they decided to make a break for it, Ron fired, knocking them back over the border where Harry knew they would be dizzy for a while.

"Good shot!" Harry said as he came up behind Ron.

"Thank you!" said Ron, looking around. He saw Harry and jumped up before grasping his hand tightly. "Good to see you mate! What th-"

He had noticed the phoenix.

"It's a phoenix. Ill tell you about it in a bit."

"Wow!" said Ron, eyes goggling.

"How are you doing?" Harry asked. Ron turned serious.

"It's been hell here. I think things will be much better now you're here, though, for everyone."

"Yeah, well hopefully going back to Hogwarts will help a bunch of us, too."

"You mean you're going?" Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Well, honestly, do I really have a choice? I'd never hear the end of it from Hermione if I left."

"Excellent! I don't know what school would be like if it were just Hermione and I the entire year. I hope McGonagall gave the Captain's badge back."

Harry laughed. "Yes. I made Quidditch Captain. And before you ask, yes, you're still going to be Keeper."

Ron punched the air enthusiastically. "Alright! I really can't wait now, I haven't ridden a broom in ages!"

"Tell me about it." Harry agreed. "I guess I'll have to use a school broom..."

Ron gave a mischievous face and shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah...or..."

"Or what?" said Harry, laughing again.

Ron turned towards the house. "Come on! I have something I want to show you in the house. Also, I think Hermione is in her room, she'll want to see you." Harry followed Ron back into the house and up the thin and spindly staircase. At Hermione's door, Ron knocked, and when bid to enter, did so.

"Hey Ron!" Harry saw Hermione stand up from the desk where she'd been working and kiss Ron.

"H-mpph. Ack, Hermione, Harry's here."

"Harry!" She gave him a big hug. "Oh, Harry, I'm so glad you're here! And Ginny will be ever so glad to see you. She keeps bringing you up at the oddest parts of conversations."

"Uh, right..." said Harry blankly.

"Harry—what's THAT?" The phoenix, who had disappeared again when Hermione hugged Harry, had reappeared and Hermione saw it.  
Harry told them both about Fawkes' surprise visit.

"Fawkes just appeared out of nowhere?" Hermione said quietly, as she stared at the phoenix. "This is incredible, do you know anything about them?"

"Only what Dumbledore told me," said Harry. "They have healing tears, they can carry lots of weight, they can appear or disappear at will...I'm actually finding stuff out as I go. For example, I've never had such a pleasant Apparition. Coming here was a breeze."

"Fascinating" said Hermione, reaching out to lightly pat the bird on the head, which it allowed. "And the way it just hatched out of the egg is incredible, we'll have to find out more at Hogwarts."

"You don't know anything else?" Ron asked, with mock surprise.

"No, I never really researched them specifically." Answered Hermione, bristling. She was still looking intently at the phoenix. "He's going to be so pretty..."

"I don't even know if it's a guy," admitted Harry. The phoenix, seemingly finally tired of all the attention, disappeared in a poof of blue smoke.

"Oh-" said Hermione.

"It's fine," said Harry, "It'll be back. So, how are you two? Still hopelessly in love by the look of it."

"Oh come off it, Harry," admonished Ron, who was going bright red, and Hermione giggled. But she then turned serious and asked Harry, "How are you?"

"I'm-"

"Fine," said Ron and Hermione together, and they all laughed.

"Well…I am," said Harry with certainty. "I could never replace Hedwig, but it's nice to have someone else to talk to around the house again," he indicated the phoenix. "And your letters always help."

"Nonsense, that's what friends are for. We're here whenever you need us, Harry."

"But-"

"Bloody hell, Harry, no one blames you. In fact, the whole wizarding community should be thanking you on bended knee!"

"Don't," advised Harry. The last thing he needed or wanted was to be treated like a king. Looking to change the subject, he turned to Ron. "What did you want to show me?"

"Oh, right!" It's in my room, come on!"

As they were leaving, Hermione said in a sing-song voice, "Enjoy your "Hottest Witch Monthly Report: Swimsuit Edition!"

Ron stopped dead, his ears and face going red very quickly. "I wasn't going to... How do you know..."

Hermione giggled. "I'm kidding Ron! You should see your face!"

Ron spun back around and left the room, still very red. Harry laughed too, and followed him.

Upstairs amid the orange walls of Ron's room, Harry found the latest issue of "Quality Quidditch Supplies" being shoved in his face by Ron. He started skimming through the pages in earnest.

"Wow! Some of these models are really nice!" Harry marveled.

"Never mind those, look at the pamphlet in the front!" Harry did so, and a huge full page-ad folded out in front of him. It read:

SPITFIRE!  
From the works of legendary Broomstick aficionado Randolph Spudmore comes the new racing broom that may just leave your robes behind! Introducing the elegant and nimble Spitfire! Made from a newly discovered light-weight wood that is nearly as hard as dragon scales, the Spitfire is our quickest and most durable model yet. Perfect for the Quidditch pitch, the Spitfire is even more streamlined and sleek than its predecessor the Firebolt, and features include ground-breaking safety features and exceptional speed. Visit your local Broom dealer for more details!

Harry whistled softly in wonder. The broom featured in the clipping was splendid, having a handle that was jet-black with faded gold stripes and one of the thinnest tails Harry had ever seen. He felt a sudden familiar longing to be flying again.

"Isn't it beautiful?" Ron asked. Harry saw the same look in Ron's eye.

"It's a bit unnecessary though, isn't it?" Harry mused, looking back at the Spitfire. "My Firebolt did just fine, so did my Nimbus before that, and to be honest if I had this, I don't think anyone else would have a chance to win."

Ron looked at him, aghast. "Are you mad? That's the whole point!"

Harry laughed as he turned his gaze out Ron's window, towards the meadow they had used to practice flying in the past years.

"I wonder how all this affected everyone else?" he mused. "I mean- Did everyone else graduate? Are they doing the year over for everyone in our year? That seems like it would make quite the graduating class..."

None of this had been spoken about before they had left Hogwarts.

"Did either of your letters say anything in particular about how the year would be handled?" he asked.

Ron shook his head and said, "I guess we'll have to find out when we get there."


	3. Chapter 3

Ginny streaked through the trees of the meadow as fast as her aging Cleansweep would allow. She used to complain that it was too slow and always hung to the right, but she still enjoyed the sense of nostalgia she felt whenever she used it. With her long sunny-red hair streaming behind her, she performed loops and barrel rolls through the branches.

Harry arrived in the meadow just in time to see her perform a spectacular dive. She hadn't noticed him yet. He ran to the broom shed and grabbed one of the old brooms stored there. Excitedly, he took a deep breath and kicked off, chasing after Ginny, marveling as he suddenly realized how long it had been since he'd flown last. When he finally caught up with her, she saw him, and her face split into a huge grin that made Harry's heart skip a beat. They kept racing each other in tandem, and some time later, Harry realized they had been at it so long the sun was starting to go down. Finally, they burst through the top of the trees, and landed in the boughs of a sturdy oak to talk.

"You've been practicing!" Harry exclaimed, grinning. Ginny looked back at him, her hair glowing in the intense orange of the dying sun and smiled.

"It's one of the only things that-"

The smile disappeared off her face. Harry didn't need her to finish. As her eyes started to tear up then, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She didn't move at first, but then leaned against him and put her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry for everything," said Harry quietly. "Maybe if I had studied Occlumency properly..."

"Harry, he would have found another way. Besides, F-Fred probably would have h-happened no matter what. It was an explosion. It isn't your fault. Voldemort tried to make it your fault, but it's not. It isn't your fault he killed people."

Harry stroked her hair as he continued to gaze at the sun, which was starting to become only a glimmer on the horizon.

"I should have been there for you at his funeral. I just felt… I don't know… I didn't want to complicate anything, and I didn't think you guys wanted me to stick around..."

"Oh, that's rubbish, Harry!" Ginny said, raising her head to look at him. "How long are you going to take before you realize that you're a part of this family too? Don't you remember what Mum said to Sirius?"

Harry looked down into his lap as he remembered the argument Sirius had had with Mrs. Weasley.

_"He's not your son, Molly!"_

_"He's as good as!"_

At the time Harry had rather resented Mrs. Weasley for being so protective of him. Now he felt his chest tightening as he remembered how vehemently she had said it.

"All of us still love you, Harry." Ginny said, now pulling on Harry's chin and turning his face so she could look deep into his eyes. "I still love you."

And as the last gleam of sunlight disappeared below the horizon Harry felt Ginny's soft lips meet his for the first time in almost a year. Harry kissed her back, embracing her completely with his arms as he did so. His breath shuddered as he thought of every reason he had felt the need to leave her and how none of that mattered now. It felt as if his world was finally at peace. Harry would have had the moment last forever, but they were suddenly interrupted by an incessant clanging coming from the house, which could only mean it was Teatime.

"Mum's great but she still has bad timing," complained Ginny, blushing.  
They flew down to the ground and put the brooms away before they went back up to the house hand in hand to greet the rest of the family.

"Harry!" said Mr. Weasley from the dining room table when he saw Harry and Ginny coming through the back door. He got up and came around, so they could shake hands. Balding, bespectacled, and looking extremely tense and tired, but cheerful, Arthur Weasley had happily taken his job back in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office at the Ministry. Bill had likewise taken his job at Gringotts bank back as a Curse-Breaker in Egypt, while Charlie had returned to Romania. All the remaining members of the Weasley family were sitting at the table, excluding Mrs. Weasley, who was in the kitchen. Percy and George had also risen to greet him, though both looked tense and tired.

Harry then sat down with Ron and Hermione on one side and Ginny on the other. A sensational smell accompanied Mrs. Weasley into the room. Everything tasted delicious. Harry listened as Mr. Weasley described Kingsley Shacklebolt's campaign to stamp all corruption in the Ministry since Voldemort's regime. Not all his followers had been caught yet, and quite a few were still at large. This, more than anything else, was Harry's biggest motivation to return and finish at Hogwarts.

Eventually the phoenix popped into existence on Harry's shoulder to share Harry's food, and he explained to everyone about the egg.

"Well, isn't that something!" said Mr. Weasley, peering through his glasses at it.

"It's cute!" said Ginny, who was petting it. It already seemed to like her.

"Phoenixes are extremely rare," said Mr. Weasley. "I knew about Dumbledore's of course, but I've never seen or known about anyone else having one."

"I think the New Zealand Quidditch team has one for a mascot," said Ron.

"I don't really know much about them, but I do know you'll need to notify and possibly even get a license from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," said Percy from the corner.

Harry nodded in agreement. "I tried the library in Grimmauld Place, but I found nothing. I'll probably have to look in the Hogwarts library."

"Well the Department would also be able to tell you more," replied Percy.

"So, you are going to finish?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

Harry nodded again, and both Hermione and Mrs. Weasley beamed.

"That's a very smart decision, Harry," said Mr. Weasley, nodding.

"There's still former followers of Voldemort out there. I still want to become an Auror, like I've always planned. I need to finish school." Harry said firmly.

Later, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were relaxing in the sitting room. Ron had talked Harry into a game of Wizard's Chess, so Hermione and Ginny sat and watched while they played with Crookshanks.

"Do you think we should hold new tryouts?" Harry asked as he watched his bishop begging for mercy from Ron's knight.

"You got Quidditch Captain?" asked Ginny.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you," said Harry.

"Well we had pretty good Beaters already, Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote."

"Right, I remember. They were good, but they weren't Fred and George." Harry replied with a sigh, as he now watched his castle being throttled by Ron's queen, despite his encouragement.

"And then Katie graduated, of course, but Demelza Robins will probably still be Chaser for us," continued Ginny.  
"Huh, so in a perfect world that just leaves a Chaser to fill." Harry said, then groaned as Ron finally beat Harry's king spectacularly. "I definitely want to win the cup this year...D'you guys realize I haven't played a full year of Quidditch since, what, year three? I wonder if Dean is coming back...he was pretty good..."  
Dean, who had been with them at Malfoy Manor and the battle of Hogwarts had left on very friendly terms, but had not been heard from by anyone since.

"It really is crazy how much this thing messed everything up," said Ron, waving his wand, and the chess pieces all arranged themselves back to their original positions and the chessboard flew over to a shelf. "They can't have only asked us to come back, can they? No one really graduated properly last year...but with a new first year coming in, what are the teachers going to do?"

"Not only that, but the Defense Against the Dark Arts position is empty again." said Ginny.

"I don't suppose your dad has mentioned anything?"

"Not to me," said Ginny, and Ron shook his head too.

"It's possible they haven't even filled it yet," said Hermione.

A couple days later, Harry found himself being shaken awake a little earlier than he would have liked by Mrs. Weasley, who whispered, "Arthur's just finished in the washroom, Harry, you should hurry up if you want to leave with him."

Harry nodded his thanks and quietly gathered clothes for the day as Mrs. Weasley left the room. He carefully left without waking Ron. Today he had decided to go to the Ministry with Mr. Weasley to figure out what he could about the phoenix.

"Good morning, Harry!" said Mr. Weasley as Harry, yawning, sat down and grabbed toast from the table. Mr. Weasley folded up the morning edition of the Daily Prophet he had been reading and finished off his glass of orange juice. Percy was sitting across from his father and nodded to Harry cordially.

"I'm going to get going," he said to Harry and Mr. Weasley. "My department is still extremely busy working on re-establishing the viability of the anti-apparation and and other magical transport defense spells on Hogwarts."

He waved his wand, sending his dishes over to the sink, and then, waving at them, he went outside, and a crack told them he was gone.

"I spoke to someone from the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures yesterday," Arthur said, as Mrs. Weasley came in and forced some orange juice on Harry before sitting down with her cup of tea. "They told me that due to the unique circumstances involved with phoenixes, we can't just apparate in the normal way. We have to use the back entrance we used when you were 13."

"Alright," said Harry, thankful that this time it would be under much better pretenses.

They thanked Mrs. Weasley for breakfast and went outside themselves before apparating to London.  
When they emerged from the sinking telephone booth they found a queue already waiting to get through security.

"Well every reform has to have a few downsides," said Mr. Weasley.

In the month since the battle, Kingsley Shacklebolt had become Minister and had nobly begun the arduous task of rooting out the corruption that had completely ingrained itself in the Ministry leading up to and during Voldemort's second rising. However bureaucracy is no easy thing to deal with and being that the Ministry was mostly in shambles since, it was going to take time. People all along the queue were looking back at him and whispering. Harry hoped fervently that they would not burst into applause or something equally mortifying. As they moved up the queue, they passed informational signs holding general information.

"UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE THE DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES IS CLOSED TO ALL WITHOUT EXPRESS AUTHORITY."

"EMPLOYEES ARE REMINDED THAT ANY ITEMS LEFT UNATTENDED WILL BE SUBJECT TO SEARCH AND POSSIBLE DESTRUCTION."

"DON'T BE LATE."

Harry and Mr. Weasley finally made it to the security gate.  
There was a middle-aged wizard standing behind the podium with a grim, no-nonsense sort of face.

"Morning, Roy," said Mr. Weasley pleasantly as both he and Harry handed over their wands for identity confirmation.  
Roy's expression didn't change as he wrote on his list.

"Arthur." His eyes flickered over Harry briefly, caught once, flickered over him again, and then he said with renewed interest, "Mr. Potter. Welcome. May I please ask the purpose of your visit?"

"I need to visit the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures."

"Right, and I assume you're escorting him, Arthur?"

"That's right," said Mr. Weasley.

"Sign here."

When they were finally let through the gate, Mr. Weasley and Harry made their way to one of the lifts, whispering still following them, and hit the button for Level 4. Level 9, the Department of Mysteries, was missing from the lift entirely. A few seconds later they were standing in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Harry had never been here before. There were lines of desks, not unlike Gringotts, and there were lots of random animal sounds coming from each one.

Mr. Weasley led him down a long line of desks to one which was managed by a smiling witch who wore glasses almost as large as Professor Trelawney's, wore robes of navy blue, and had her starting-to-gray hair pulled back in a short ponytail.  
She was barely visible behind a mountain of papers sitting on her desk in front of her, but when she looked up and saw Mr. Weasley she immediately got up, so forcefully that a deluge of paper fell off the desk to the floor.

"Arthur! Oh, corks!" She waved her wand casually at the papers and they all flew back up to the desk, seemingly even more haphazardly than before. "Oh, Arthur, I've been so excited! I haven't been able to think about anything else!"

"Harry this is Emily Calloway," Mr. Weasley said. "She's our phoenix enthusiast."

"Harry Potter," said Emily, shaking his hand reverently with the usual glance at his scar. "I'm just tickled. I can't tell you how long its been since we had a non-linear bonding!"

"Sorry?" asked Harry as they all sat down again. The big pile of papers cascaded to the floor again, but Emily ignored them this time.

"Let me start at the beginning," she said, waving her wand again, and 3 cups of hot tea appeared and placed themselves in front of each of them. "It is unknown when the first bonding took place. We certainly know phoenixes have been around a lot longer than us, but it is less clear how and why some of them decided to serve magickind as faithful companions. There are male and female phoenixes, but their gender means very little, as they are born from fire. Both a mother or father can hatch a chick. It is extremely rare in the first place for a phoenix to even lay an egg because of their immortality. When they do, it is never more than one egg. Then, one of two things happens. The more common is that the new bird hatches and lives in the wild on its own. But every once in a blue moon a phoenix will entrust its egg to one of us, though the trust needed is apparently incredibly strong. The Dumbledore family is the only one we know of that continues to have linear bondings with a particular family of phoenixes. Rarer still is when an egg is entrusted to someone with no familial link whatsoever."

Harry explained how it was indeed Dumbledore's phoenix who had appeared and given him the egg. She nodded sadly and said, "It seems at the lack of an heir to the Dumbledore family, Fawkes came to you instead."

Harry listened intently as she continued.

"Phoenixes can alter the way a wizard apparates, as you may have already noticed. Since the phoenix knows naturally how to teleport itself through the fire medium, bonding carries this ability over. Besides that, their tears carry healing properties so strong we haven't been able to find something they are not effective against, and they are the only cure for some things out there. They can also carry extremely heavy loads, but we aren't sure exactly HOW heavy," she said with a grin. Harry already knew this from what Dumbledore had told him, and experienced first hand at the age of 12.

Emily then asked Harry to summon the phoenix, and after looking at it carefully for a few moments said, "Well, this one is a female, and she is actually even rarer than your average phoenix, you just don't see green or purple in phoenixes. She spun around in her chair and pulled large heavy leather-bound book from the bookcase behind her and turn back front. She then went through the registration process with Harry involving choosing a name. After much deliberation, Harry decided to name her Lily, after his mother. Emily also put down the colors and length of Lily's plumage and took a picture.

It was after this that Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic, appeared behind Harry and Arthur. And with him was none other than Professor McGonagall.  
"Ah, good morning, Arthur, Harry. Emily, thanks for notifying me that they arrived."  
Harry and Arther both greeted them and the Minister summoned a chair each for both of them to sit in. Lily was still sitting on Harry's shoulder, Kingsley and Professor McGonagall both looked at her with interest before Professor McGonagall addressed Harry with a smile.  
"Well, Mr. Potter, I thought I wouldn't see you until term started, but it seems the situation has changed-Oh, thank you," she said, as Emily gave her and the Minister tea.

"That is a very beautiful phoenix. And the Minister's letter said the father is Fawkes?" Harry nodded, and he recounted to them how Lily had hatched.

Professor Mcgonagall nodded when he had finished. "He looked really well, Professor. Also, since Hedwig…" but he stopped, because thinking about Hedwig was painful.

But Professor Mcgonagall nodded again in understanding. "She seems especially fond of you, I'm very glad for you, Potter." She sipped her tea, then said, "Well, all of this could have been said at Hogwarts; I came today to discuss something extremely serious with you, since you have now taken ownership of a phoenix. As you already know, it is impossible to apparate or disapparate into or out of the Hogwarts grounds and castle. Albus Dumbledore, being Headmaster, was the one exception to this rule, as you witnessed a few times, I imagine, like in your 5th year. He had the ability to do so in one way, by his phoenix. The Anti-Apparition jinxes in place on the school are very specific, and are not designed to stop the teleportation powers of the phoenix. As Dumbledore was the owner of one of the only two known domesticated phoenixes in the world, this allowed him and him alone to be able to travel to any part of the school instantaneously."

Harry sat there, stunned. Who needed the invisibility cloak? Who needed the secret passages? He had a phoenix. He would be able to go anywhere…anytime…He was so shaken that he almost didn't hear Professor McGonagall's next words.

"And it is for this reason, I must ask you to promise, here and now, that you will not go anywhere—ANYWHERE—you should not while you're at Hogwarts. There are many, many places in the school you have no business going. I am allowing this because I trust you Mr. Potter. The Minister is also allowing it because he trusts you. I don't want to have to go through altering the anti-apparition jinxes and defensive spells for one student, but I will if I have to. Is this clear?"

"Uh…yes," said Harry, still hardly able to believe he would never be late for a class again. "Of course, Professor."

"If I hear of any funny business going on, I will take action."

"No problem." Harry said. "I promise, Professor."


	4. Prologue

_"In Remembrance of those who fell in the fight:_  
_Mrs. Abbott_  
_Bathilda Bagshot_  
_Regulus & Sirius Black_  
_The Bones Family_  
_Lavender Brown_  
_Charity Burbage_  
_Colin Creevey_  
_Dirk Cresswell_  
_Dobby_  
_Cedric Diggory_  
_Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_  
_Benjy Fenwick_  
_Florian Fortescue_  
_Bertha Jorkins_  
_Remus Lupin_  
_The McKinnon Family_  
_Dorcas Meadowes_  
_Alastor Moody_  
_James & Lily Potter_  
_The Prewett Family_  
_Rufus Scrimgeour_  
_Severus Snape_  
_Nymphadora Tonks_  
_Ted Tonks_  
_Emmeline Vance_  
_Myrtle Warren_  
_Fred Weasley_  
_50 others unidentified._

_ Let it be known that on this spot Harry Potter defeated the one calling himself Lord Voldemort for the second time, protected our school, and freedom for magical folk everywhere."_  
_-Engraving on the memorial in the Entrance Hall in Hogwarts_

Harry Potter woke from slumber in a panic. Drenched in sweat, breathing heavily and shaking, it took him a minute to realize where he was. He was in his bed at Grimmauld Place. Still gasping, Harry lay back down on the pillow. He gazed at the ceiling, panting, for almost a whole minute before he suddenly rolled over in bed, buried his head in his pillow and screamed in anguish and frustration. Why did a single person have to witness so much death in one lifetime?

He kept his face pressed into the pillow, a wave of depression washing over him. It was too painful to list them anymore. They had all done it for him. Given their lives just for a 18 year old boy? No. Thinking like that was too self-centered. They were fighting for a way of life…

Harry sat there with his thoughts for a bit more before he rolled back over, put on his glasses and looked over at the clock. It was 5:30 am. Moodily, he threw some clothes on and quietly walked downstairs. He didn't think more sleep would be possible. Harry looked around disgustedly as he dismounted the staircase. He hadn't wanted to return here, yet, he also found himself unable to leave either. The house had been left to him by Sirius, and he vehemently refused to return to the Dursleys or be a burden on any of his friends. He had tried valiantly to make Number 12, Grimmauld Place look more inviting with the help of Ron and Hermione and it did look better. All the hideous Elf heads were now gone from the hallway, and the revolting portrait of Sirius' mother, stubborn as it had been, had finally been removed, thanks to some fancy wandwork done by none other than Hermione. It looked much more like a house now. Harry still didn't like being there, though. There were just too many memories. Everything in the place reminded Harry of someone who wasn't around anymore.

Sighing, Harry listlessly stumped out and, flicking his wand lazily, opened the front door and sat out on the front stairs to watch the sun rise above the still morning air. Voldemort was dead, yes. The war was over. Harry had fulfilled his destiny so far. So why then was he still having nightmares of all his deceased friends? As he sat down on the front step, a small tinge of light blue was just making its way into the murky midnight of the sky. He gave a small shiver as the cool twilight air whipped around his face in a small breeze

It had already been a little more than a month since he had last seen Hogwarts, and he still couldn't seem to pull himself out of his stupor. He supposed it really wasn't surprising, considering the amount of recent funerals he had been to.

The hardest one for Harry to attend by far was Fred Weasley's. Harry stared down at his bare feet as he remembered. Despite the mood it had been extremely sunny and hot that day, as if Fred himself were trying to tell them all to quit moping. It was very nearly unbearable for him, watching as Mrs. Weasley buried her tear-stained face in Arthur's shoulder, himself seemingly unable to watch, as the coffin bearing Fred was lowered into the ground by Ron, Bill, Percy and Charlie. George stood stone-faced and dry-eyed, unable to accept that his other half was gone. Ginny stood nearby with Hermione Fleur and Gabrielle, sobbing quietly into a tissue. Harry had wanted nothing more than to rush over to her and hold her close, but he had been unable to. He had never felt more guilty in all of his life.

Despite all that, there was much to be thankful for and to celebrate. Harry felt immense joy whenever he got to spend time with his godson. Named for his own grandfather, Ted would reach out with a tiny hand towards Harry's face and try to grab his glasses. He was such a little bundle of life and Harry was glad that, though orphaned like himself, Ted would never have to live with people like the Dursleys. Nor would he have to wonder who he was or how his own story had begun like Harry had once done. Harry had promised himself to make sure of that.


End file.
